Terminator 2: Judgment Day: parents' guide
Best for ages 15 and up. Rated R for strong sci-fi action and violence, and for language.
A landmark sci-fi action sequel that works for many mid-teens, with heavy violence, strong language and one deeply disturbing nightmare. A reprogrammed Terminator protects a 10-year-old boy and his mother from a shape-shifting killer robot, leading to shootouts, chases and stabbings with blood, plus robots ripped open and healing on screen. A recurring dream shows children at a playground incinerated by a nuclear blast. The boy swears too, and his foster parents and their dog are killed. Age 15 reflects the intensity and the f-words.
What's in it
Violence
StrongSustained gunfights, explosions and chases. A blade-armed robot impales victims through the head, and the mother is tortured with a blade pushed into her wound. Dozens of police are shot in the legs, and machines are blasted open and repair themselves.
Language
StrongOne count found about 17 f-words, including "motherf--ker," and roughly 27 s-words, plus frequent misuse of God's name and other insults. The 10-year-old hero swears along with the adults.
Sex and nudity
MildNo sex. The Terminators arrive naked, showing bare backsides and chests, and women ogle one of them. A woman's bare back is shown while a wound is stitched, and there is some kissing and hugging.
Drinking, drugs and smoking
ModerateThe mother smokes cigarettes throughout and swigs tequila straight from the bottle. Bar patrons drink and smoke, a man smokes a cigar, and patients at a psychiatric hospital are forcibly sedated.
Scary or intense scenes
StrongThe liquid-metal killer can disguise itself as anyone, including a parent, and never stops coming. A recurring nightmare shows children at a playground burning to skeletons in a nuclear blast. Hospital orderlies abuse the mother, and one licks her face.
Sensitive topics
- Death of a parent
- Animal death
Worth talking about
The film argues that the future is not fixed and that people must answer for the technology they build. What responsibility do inventors have for how their creations end up being used?
On our lists
Similar picks around 15+
Checked October 13th, 2026 against Common Sense Media, Plugged In, bbfc.co.uk, the MPA. The age is our judgment, not an official rating, and every family draws its lines differently: read the notes, not just the number. Spotted something we missed? Tell us. How we rate.